Heartbreaking update as fire investigation dog who suddenly went blind has brain tumour
A fire investigations dog who went blind overnight has sadly been diagnosed with a brain tumour and is now in palliative care.
Kai, a 10-year-old Belgian Shepherd who worked for West Midlands Fire Service, went to sleep as normal on January 5 at his home in Penn, but woke up blind on January 6.
It was believed that Kai had a neurological problem but it has now been confirmed that he has a brain tumour.
The heartbreaking news was shared by his handler and owner, Mat Dixon, who took to Twitter to share the news with the legions of people who have sent the pair support.
Mat does not want his beloved dog to have to endure operations, invasive treatments, and chemotherapy, so in Kai's best interests, the 10-year-old dog is now in palliative care.
Mat posted: "Friends, I am writing this message to update you all with Kai's condition. It's unfortunately not good news, it would appear that Kai has a brain tumour.
"I have come to the most difficult decision that operations, chemotherapy, and invasive treatments is a road I don't want Kai to have to walk down.
"He has had 10 years of living his best life. Hopefully I have done him half as proud as he has me.
"So for now, he is on palliative care. We don't know how long it will be, but, when the hardest of decisions need to be made, I will make it, for Kai's sake.
"For now, Kai will be doing the things that make him happy, for as long as there is a wag in his tail.
"So, go give your dogs a huge and make today their best day ever. Lots of love, Mat & Kai."
Mat had realised that something was wrong with Kai on January 6, and said: “It became obvious pretty quickly he couldn’t see. He tripped over the side of his basket. I called him and he walked into the wall next to the door. I thought ‘something’s not right there’.
“Talking to him I could see he was looking in the direction my voice was coming from but not at me.”
Kai was taken to a vet in Wolverhampton and has since been seeing a specialist in Derby, where tests were carried out to try to work out the cause of his sight loss.
The dog's retinas had detached and he also had a swollen optic nerve, meaning he has to retire from service.
Mat described Kai as “quite unsettled” in the first couple of days after going blind, with his tail tucked between his legs and not being up for playing with another of his dogs, a cocker spaniel named Jyn.
“She was confused about why he wasn’t playing,” he said. “But on Wednesday he played back for a few seconds.”
Before going blind, Kai was used to help sniff out flammable liquids at fire scenes once blazes were extinguished to see if accelerants had been used and arson committed in a role, that meant he relied on his nose just as much as his eyes.
One of only a handful of dogs trained in such work, it meant he travelled across the country despite being based with West Midlands Fire Service.
Mat believes that work means he has “adapted quicker than a lot of other dogs would have done” and within days was using his nose to follow Jyn.
Kai continued to grow in confidence after losing his sight. Mat said: “He’s adapting for quicker than I could have imagined, and quicker than I am.
"The issue he seems to be having some trouble with is borne out of me not thinking, or not moving stuff or letting him off his lead and not thinking he can’t see, then he gets stuck in a bush.”
“He has absolutely blown me away."
